Looking back over our lives, it seems to me that this question — although only rarely brought to the forefront of our consciousness — determines most decisions and choices we make after entering our early twenties: By that time we will have adopted a major self-image that is supposed to be the answer to our life’s purpose: it may be the self-image of “the avid learner,” “the dedicated wife” or “the good husband,” “the researcher,” “the explorer,” "the doctor," etc..

The fact that we generally attempt to define our life's purpose in terms of a positive self-image gives us reason to question whether such an attempt has any Cosmic validity; or, whether it is one of those illusory goals that come from the collective ego that trap us in an endless pursuit to find a place in society.

When we realize that the attainment of every much-admired self-image requires enormous energy in striving to perfect it, often leading us to the point of exhaustion and to alienation from Cosmic protection and help, we don't need to look further for the answer as to where the idea of “seeking for the purpose of our lives” originates. It is a mistaken idea that causes us to doubt our true place in the Cosmos.

How then does the Sage define that true place that each of us has in the Cosmos?

The Sage has explained to us that the overarching Cosmic purpose is to increase the Cosmic Consciousness and its expression in form. “Its expression in form” refers to its expression in the multitudinous forms of Nature and in a Culture that is created in accord with the Cosmic Principles of Harmony. Every human being is born with a unique combination of gifts and talents. Our contribution to the overarching Cosmic purpose consists in bringing that unique combination of gifts and talents to expression. This is the definition of true creativity. There is a danger in viewing creativity as something that needs to fit either into the frames of “usefulness” or “good for nothing,” when those ideas of what is useful are mainly defined by the collective ego. Only by giving our gifts and talents free play — without censorship — can true creativity unfold.

A little note on the side: When Carol and I learned from the Sage that every aspect of Nature has a unique function in the Cosmos as a Whole, we asked ourselves, “What is the unique function of a squirrel?” We came up with several hypotheses, such as, “its function is to contribute to the spreading of oak trees by burying acorns.” However, the Sage kept saying “No.” We paused for a while to give the Sage space to give us an insight. Then the answer came: the function of the squirrel is to contribute to the diversity and beauty of Nature. The Sage had flung open a window to a Cosmic view that exploded our idea of “usefulness!”

There is one hexagram in the I Ching that indirectly addresses the conditions under which we are able to express our human creativity in accord with the Cosmic Principles of Harmony. It is Hexagram 11, Harmony, Peace, Prosperity. That hexagram makes us aware of the main mistaken ideas that have slandered and blocked our developing a healthy relationship with the Cosmos. In that process we have also imprisoned the Helper of our Creativity. When this Helper is imprisoned, we either pursue perfecting a positive self-image that is admired by our culture, or we constantly seek to suppress a negative one. Because either of these preoccupations is based on being recognized by the outer world, they leave the basic need to know and respect our true selves unattended. As a consequence, we end up feeling bored and lacking in inspiration and purpose. Through freeing ourselves from those mistaken ideas and from all negative and positive self-images, we free the Helper of our Creativity. By doing that we free the source of creative inspiration that lies within each of us.

The questions that lead us to fulfillment in our lives are those that enable us to know our true place in the Cosmos: How can we express our unique combination of gifts and talents that are by nature in accord with the Cosmic Principles of Harmony? The answer to this question is stored in our Treasure Chest of Inner Truth. Getting to know our true nature is what happens when we regularly consult the I Ching.

A recent occurrence made us painfully aware of the trap created by the thought that we had reached the “final freedom” of a longstanding health issue. We had deprogrammed certain ego-elements the Sage had indicated as having been the cause for a blockage to healing. You could imagine our sigh of relief!

The relief did not last long, however, because the same symptoms returned the next night. Consulting the Sage about what happened, we learned that we had stepped into a trap of our commonly used language by allowing the thought, “Now I will finally be free!” That thought (which contained a hint of self-congratulation) was associated with a “demon of final certainty,” and accompanied by a changeling called “the sigh of eternal freedom.” It had deceived us about the fact that the thought, “Now I will be finally free,” also proclaims an absolute state of freedom — an idea that contradicts the Cosmic Principles of Harmony that are based on the Principle of Relativity. By introducing that “final certainty,” the ego put us into a new prison, in which the Helpers could no longer protect us in regard to the problem at hand. The problem with declaring anything as absolute is that it automatically creates its opposite, i.e., “the success will always remain aloof.” This is one of the biggest traps that keep us imprisoned in the ego’s logic.

The Cosmic Principles of Harmony are outside the ego’s logic.

They are something we spontaneously understand because our true feelings are based on them. That explains why, when we consult the Sage that speaks through the I Ching, its replies create a resonance in us with “what we have always felt to be true.” (The function of the I Chingas a book is to put the Cosmic truths into words our mind can understand.)

Does the Principle of Relativity mean that we must learn to live with uncertainty?

That is what the ego would tell us, and immediately the word “risk” comes to mind, with frightening images. Once again, the ego tries to draw us into the trap of thinking in terms of opposites: “If there is no certainty, then it means that we must live with uncertainty.” When writing our book, I Ching, The Oracle of the Cosmic Way, and the two subsequent books, the Sage showed us, over and over that the Cosmic reality that functions according to the Principles of Harmony, is outside the reality that has been created by the ego’s logic. The Principle of Relativity ensures the duration of the harmonious order of the Cosmos. That order is not something rigid, but constantly evolving within the limits set by the Cosmic Principles of Harmony

What is the lesson to be learned?

First we need to understand the trap set by thinking in absolute terms. That happens whenever we use the words “always,” or “never,” or their equivalents, such as “final,” “finite,” or, “for all times.”

Next, we need to realize that using those words was a mistake. We then need to deprogram the thought or image that is connected with those words (such as, “now I am finally free of that problem!), and then ask the Sage to free us from their disharmonious effects. Doing so restores our Cosmic protection in regard to the issue at hand.

In OUR BLOG we are sharing with you, our readers and potential readers, what makes our book I Ching, the Oracle of the Cosmic Way, and the two subsequent books we wrote, Healing Yourself the Cosmic Way, and The Psyche Revealed Through the I Ching, different.

I Ching, The Oracle of the Cosmic Way was inspired by concrete experiences that blew away our previous understanding of what we thought to be “irreversible principles” on which the I Ching was based. Our new understanding was made possible thanks to three factors:

Carol’s experience of the Sage, the Cosmic Teacher that speaks through the I Ching. This experience came from many years of meditations in which the Sage had revealed itself to her. They are documented in her book, The Other Way, Meditation Experiences Based on the I Ching. Thus, to her the I Ching was no longer merely a book, but something the Sage was able to use to teach her hidden aspects of the text. What she learned in this way went into her other early books: A Guide to the I Ching, The Philosophy of the I Ching, and Love, An Inner Connection Based on Principles Drawn from the I Ching.

Carol’s subsequent discovery, around 1994, of a method that allowed her to put direct questions to the Sage for the purpose of clarifying a message received through the I Ching text.

An experience Hanna had in 1998, of spontaneous healing that was made possible through using the clarifying method mentioned above, on the one hand, and I Ching meditation, on the other. Both means enabled the Sage to correct several very basic false assumptions that had been written into the I Ching by scholars of the Confucian school around 350 B.C. One of the most fundamental of these was the replacement of the principle of transformation by what they called the “law of changes.” The enormous relevance of this change is described below. I Ching, The Oracle of the Cosmic Way and all our subsequent books are based on the principle of transformation as the means through which the Cosmos achieves all things.

The difference between transformation and change is easier to understand today than in earlier times, since the most advanced research in physics, i.e., quantum theory, recognizes that the Universe is consciousness, and that matter is a manifestation of consciousness. Transformation refers to the process by which consciousness is trans-formed into form, as when atomic particles pop out of what appears to be empty space, and also the process by which things in form are trans-formed back into consciousness, as at death. Transformations are carried out by invisible forces that the I Ching, in a number of hexagrams, refers to as Helpers or friends that need to be engaged. By contrast, “changes”are of a purely mechanical nature. They are the result of the use of manipulation and force by humans who have refused to recognize the existence of the Helpers, thereby negating the most basic principle on which all harmonious progress is based. In a nutshell, mechanical changes are the result of a view that sees humans as the center of the universe — the ones who ‘do it all.’ The backside of that arrogance is the suffering in the world.

The original purpose of the I Ching was to show humans the true causes and effects of events happening in their lives. Its predictions were not to be read as foretelling a prewritten future, but as reflecting the effects of our thinking and attitudes: when our thinking is in accord with Cosmic truths, it automatically engages the invisible helping forces of the Cosmos and results in success. By contrast, when our thinking contradicts Cosmic truths, it creates what the I Ching calls “misfortune.” When we understand that the causes of misfortune lie in ideas and beliefs that contradict the Cosmos, we can correct our thinking accordingly. Our newer books on the I Ching also describe the help that is available to us to carry out that correction, and thereby return, step-by-step, to our true nature, which automatically knows the Way of the Cosmos. The purpose is no longer to “become” something through making changes (in our looks, or in the way we present ourselves to the world around us, or even in how we want to see ourselves), but to gradually free ourselves from the human-centered mindset, and thereby return to the Cosmic unity.

The articles we are posting on OUR BLOG are meant to summarize major steps in our process of learning about the Cosmic Principles of Harmony that govern all life, about healing ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally, and about bringing Cosmic help into our lives generally.

My book, A Guide to the I Ching was the result of ten years of insights gained in meditation from 1970 to 1980 while working with the Wilhelm/Baynes translation of the I Ching. In 1980, a meditation occurred in which I saw myself walking through Grand Central Station, in New York City. There, I stopped at a kiosk where magazines and books were sold. To my surprise, I saw three books there written by myself. This meditation led to my first book, A Guide to the I Ching.

What is the difference between I Ching, The Oracle of the Cosmic Way, with Hanna Moog as co-author, and A Guide to the I Ching? The Guide is based on experiences in consulting the Wilhelm translation, which is based on the central idea that “changes” rule all of life, and that we are meant to adapt to them in order to bring ourselves into harmony with the Cosmos. Adapting often means that we accept negative circumstances in the hope that things will get better…this is the role of the “superior man.”

I Ching, The Oracle of the Cosmic Way, by contrast, is basically active, in that it shows how we can engage Cosmic help to correct matters on the outer plane. It connects us with our inner truth in regard to each situation. There is no model of “the superior man” that we need to “become.” Instead, we are counseled to “take away” obstacles in our thinking and point of view that prevent our attaining Cosmic help for each situation. In this regard it is active — referring to various kinds of inner action — rather than passive.

On asking the Sage whether we were to discontinue publishing the Guide, we received a clear “NO” for the answer. As the Sage never gave us a “reason,” we cannot answer it here. We can only conclude that it is still helpful to some people, and that is reason enough.

Carol’s experience of the Sage in the 1970’s was of an alive consciousness that wants to communicate with us. This took away for her the understanding that what we read in the written text of the book, is all we have for an oracle. It becomes apparent through its use that the I Ching is a Cosmic gift to humans. Its purpose is show people (1) the nature of the Cosmos as a system of Principles of Harmony, (2) our true human nature, and (3) the way we individually can return to harmony with these Cosmic Principles when we have lost our way.

The Sage, as part of this interaction, is a presence within us that uses the oracle to draw up from the depths of our nature, our innate knowledge of Cosmic truth. (This truth is contained in the DNA of every body cell.) The I Ching Hexagram 61, titled “Inner Truth,” refers to this source that is stored in our bodies, not in words, but in the form of feelings of what is harmonious and what is not. Thus, the Sage uses the I Ching to speak through its text, but the text itself is not the oracle.

The Sage makes it clear, through the method we call the retrospective-three-coin-method, or “rtcm” (which will be described in our next article), that it does not teach us the handed down platitudes that have often been taken as ‘ancient wisdom.’ It rather discourages this kind of memorized mental approach by reaching into our own deepest inner truth to bring forth the answers that are already there. We find, in so doing, that our inner truth has been suppressed in favor of these platitudes and commandments. That is why, on finding the answer we need, we recognize that we “knew that” all along, but did not dare to trust it. Thus, we find that the Sage is all the time connecting us with a part of ourselves that has been repressed through conditioning.

This process of reaching into the depths is described in Hexagram 48, “The Well,” which calls our inner truth “a clear, cold spring from which one can drink.” Often, we cannot access our inner truth because “there is mud in the well” in the form of fixed, preconceived ideas, fears, old grievances, and memories of wrongs done to us. When we drink from this mud, we are kept stalling. With the help of the I Ching text, the Sage not only wants to make us aware of this fact, it also offers us help to cleanse our inner well. Then we find that our inner truth is a gold mine containing everything we need to know.

The more we work with the Sage and give it the necessary space in our mind, the more we realize that it wants to speak to us as a friend, not as a godlike figure that expects obeisance and punishes us when we make mistakes. On the contrary, the Sage wants to free us from ideas that are either grandiose, making us see ourselves as the center of the universe, or that inspire us with fear and awe, and make us see ourselves as small and insignificant. The ancient Greeks had an idea of the Sage when they spoke of “a tutelary spirit that accompanies each person lifelong.” They named it “genii,” root of the word “genius.” Writers have long called it “the muse.” For many artists, athletes, and inventors, it is an “elusive thing” that takes over in us when we give up relying on the “brilliance and ability of the thinking mind,” or the pure brawn of our bodies, to provide the success we seek.